Screen, shade, and the like.



- A. C. HOUGH.,

SCREEN, SHADE, AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2 1916.

1,218,556. Patented Mar. 6, 1917.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AZEL CLARENCE HOUGH, OF JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN, A-SSIGNOR T0 HOUGH SHADE CORPORATION, OF JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

SCREEN, SHADE, AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 6, 1917.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, AZEL CLARENCE Honorr, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Janesville, county of Rock, and State of Wisconsin, have invented an Improveinent in Screens, Shades, and the like, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My present invention is an improved screen, shade, or the like, with provision for ventilation therethrough.

My invention is an improvement in the woven type of screen as distinguished from the Venetian blind type of screen or shade, wherein slats or wooden members were movable by hand to render the shade open or closed. Such prior wooden shades or screens are very expensive and cumbersome to make, requiring individual fastenings for each slat, and quickly getting out of order and presenting a structure which is difficult or impossible to roll up compactly from either end. The woven screen, on the contrary, being made quickly, economically and as a fabric with transverse slat members and longitudinal warp cords or strands, has almost entirely supplanted the more cumbersome and expensive Venetian blind type of screen, but heretofore it has been presumed to be impossible to make a woven screen structure with provision for ventilation through any portion of it. My present invention solves this problem and enables a ventilating woven screen to be economically and commercially manufactured.

In my development of the art of manufacturing porch shades and screens by weaving, such for example as shown in my prior Patent No. 748,734, I have produced a screen formed of slats tightly woven together and yet of suitable flexibility to be readily rolled up from either end, and I prefer to utilize my present invention in a woven screen of this type. Also I prefer to form such a screen with one or more ventilating portions or sections, while utilizing the type of weaving explained in said patent for the remaining portion of the shade. Thus I produce a woven shade with a close section for a predetermined distance and with one or more open or ventilating sections, resulting in the combination of a close woven portion and a or bottom portion, to facilitate the circulation of air and secure the advantages of ventilation through the screen at predetermined sections. It is, of course, important in a shade or screen of this type to have the screen closely woven to exclude the suns rays and effectually constitute a satisfactory screen, while securing a strong yet flexible construction. The provisionof a ventilating section at the upper portion of the screen, for example, is not objectionable in use, while enabling the free flow of air and thus create or stimulate air circulation and pro vide the desired cooling elfects of ventilation. While I mention, specially, a close weave for the main or screen portion of the shade, such as the close weave illustrated in my said prior patent, it will be appreciated that my invention is not limited thereto, but contemplates the provision of a relatively close section in the screen, and a relatively open ventilating section at a predetermined position and of a predeterminedproportion of the screen, also a plurality of such ventilating sections in the screen, when so desired.

In the formation of the ventilating sec tion, it will be understood that I am not limited to any particular amount of spacing for ventilation, nor any particular weave, nor to any proportion of ventilating and nonventilating section. In fact, the ventilating constructions herein shown for illustrative purposes may be utilized advantageously for the entire screen construction, although I contemplate employing the same only as ventilating sections in connection with a close or tight and the ventilating section relatively loose or open so that the slats may hang separated from each other to provide the desired extent of ventilation; or the ventilating section may be woven with the slats forming it held in predetermined spaced relation, as by twisting the warp cords one or more times to insure the space between the slats, or by forming the slats relatively thick or square, so that the simple weaving will necessarily enable suflicient length in the Warp cords between adjacent slats to be left so that the natural stretch or weight of the shade or screen will open the. slats in the ventilating section.

Further features of the invention, details of construction and novel combinations of parts will be hereinafter more fully pointed out and claimed.

Referring to the drawings illustrating a woven screen embodying my invention:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a woven screen having a plurality of ventilating sections, one section at the top, one section at the bottom, and the third intermediate section between the two;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the line of Fig. 1.;

Figs. 3 and i are side and cross-sectional views respectively of a modified form of ventilating section and Figs. 5 and 6 are plan views and cross-sectional views respectively of a further modified form of ventilating construction.

For illustrative purposes 1 have shown my present invention of a shade or screen with ventilating sections as utilizing the standard weave, now well known in the trade, of my said prior patent, to which reference is made for further details and advantages of the same.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the shade there shown comprises a plurality of wood slats or weft units, united by woven warp cords. The warp cords 1 are preferably doubled at each end portion of the slats and one or more single Warp threads 2 are applied throughout the width of the screen, depending upon the size and strength desired. The slats comprising the relatively close and tight woven or non-ventilating section 3 may be of any suitable width, and the slats a constituting the ventilating sections are preferably of slightly narrower formation, although this is entirely optional. Reinforcing and retaining strips 5 and 6 at the top and bottom of the screen are provided, as

. usual, and I also prefer to apply similar retaining strips 7 and 8 where a ventilating section is formedv in the screen, although these additional strips 7 and 8 are optional.

1n the screen illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 I show three ventilating sections, but it will be readily understood that one section only may be utilized, or a larger number if desired. In forming such ventilating sections 1 am enabled to use, advantageously, the weaving of thewarp cords 1 and 2 by giving to the same a twist, between the ventilating slats a, as illustrated at points marked 9 and 10 and as clearly shown in the drawings. Such twisting of the warp cords serves not only to space the slats 1 equally and to a predetermined extent throughout the ventilating section, but also acts to firmly and securely bind and hold the slats thus spaced. While a loose Weaving throughout the ventilating section might be sufficient in many cases, yet such a loose weaving would not, ordinarily, hold the slats firmly in their respective positions, but might permit lateral displacement or end chase.

A plurality of such twistings may be employed as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4:, at 11 and 12, thus permitting additional spacing of the slats in a ventilating section. Variation in the spacing may also be regulated by the size of the cord employed.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have illustrated a still further modification of the construction suitable for a ventilating section. In this form the ventilating slats 13 are formed of a sufficient width so that the woven cords 15, in spanning the thickness of the slats 13, will give sufiicient length to permit a substantial stretching of the slats from each other when suspended. With the slats 13 relatively thick or for example square in cross section, this ventilating feature is attained. A still further advantage of the form shown in Figs. 5 and. 6 is that such relatively thick slats prevent the suns rays from slanting through and rain from driving therethrough to the annoyance of persons behind the screen. As the ventilating section will ordinarily be at the extreme top or bottom of the shade, such thick slats will effectually preserve the continuity of the shading construction throughout the entire length of the screen until the suns rays are substantially level, when, of course, they would penetrate only at the extreme top and bottom of the shade out of range and at such times the suns rays are unobjectionable.

It will be understood, that, while I prefer to combine the close weave and the open weave for the ventilating section, such open weave including the twisting of the warp cords or otherwise, I am not limited thereto, but claim broadly the combination of a ventilating portion and non-ventilating portion. The utilization of my standard weave with a weaving construction for the ventilating section enables both to be readily adapted in the process of manufacture and lends itself advantageously to uniformity and elegance of product. It is, however, within the scope of certain of the following claims, to utilize any form of weaving-or connection in the non-ventilating portion of the screen and an entirely different means of connection for the slats in the ventilating section.

My invention is further described and defined in the form of claims as follows:

1. A woven screen of the kind described, having a ventilating portion and a nonventilating portion, said non-ventilating portion comprising transverse slat members, warp strands woven tightly about said members, separating said slats only by the compressive thickness of the warp strands, said ventilating portion comprising a plurality of slats so woven by the Warp strands as to be spaced apart a distance greater than the thickness of said Warp strands, whereby a woven screen having a Woven portion per mitting the passage of air currents therethrough is provided.

2. A woven screen of the kind described, having'a plurality of ventilating portions separated by a plurality ofnon-ventilating portions, each nonventilating portion comprising transverse slat members, warp strands Woven tightly about said members separating said slats only by the compressive thickness of the warp strands, each ventilating portion comprising a plurality of slats so Woven by the warp strands as to be spaced apart a distance greater than the thickness of said warp strands, whereby a woven screen having woven portions permitting the passage of air currents therethrough is provided.

3. A woven screen of the kind described, comprising a ventilating portion and a non-ventilating portion, said non-ventilat ing portion consisting in slats held closely together by woven warp strands interlaced about said slats, said ventilating portion having the slats so woven by said warp strands as to be substantially spaced from each other and from the end slat of said non-ventilating portion, in combination with a retaining strip for the warp strands carried by said endmost slat in the non-ventilating por tion.

t. A Woven screen of the kind described, comprising a plurality of transverse slats held tightly together by warp-strands interlaced over the front and back of alternate slats, separating said slats only by the compressive thickness of the warp-strands, in combination with a plurality of slats held spaced apart by the warp-strands separating said slats by one or more turns constituting a spacing greater than the thickness of said Warp strands.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to'this Specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

AZEL CLARENCE HOUGI-I.

Witnesses:

HAZEL T. WEIRIGH, Born 0. GARDNER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

